Juicy facts about Laura Ingraham and her show

By Bexx Wilton, Jun 27, 2018

Laura Ingraham is a woman that’s hard to avoid in 2018 because she has a habit of stirring up controversy. When you’re someone who’s heavily involved with politics, or who has very passionate views about such matters, your actions are always going to be put under a microscope. Whether democrat or republican, what you believe will always be supported by one side and criticized by the other. Given Laura’s a talk show host whose programs are often centered around politics, it’s impossible for her to refrain from subjects that might stir up some drama now and then.

Regrettable actions

Laura Ingraham is definitely a name on everyone’s lips right now. As a prominent figure on TV and radio, her views are brought into the limelight frequently, and they’re not always without controversy.

There was some drama in 2018 after Laura had a poor choice of words about one of the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Twitter is the home of regrettable actions, so it’s unsurprising that the talk show host’s tweet received some backlash. It was more than just a case of some people no longer watching her show. Over 20 advertisers boycotted “The Ingraham Angle,” and only some of them have returned in the months since. Things aren’t all bad for her show, though.

Everyone loves drama

What is it they say about publicity? All good publicity is good publicity, no matter how bad it is. The boycott didn’t quite have the impact that advertisers were expecting when Ingraham’s viewership didn’t drop.

In fact, her figures increased in the weeks following the controversy on Twitter. She was hitting peaks of over three million, reporting a rise of 25% in her total viewers. That’s not bad going for someone who nearly lost her job. All the drama around her tweet made people wonder who exactly Laura Ingraham is, which is why so many new viewers tuned into her show. It’s not a program you could ever get bored watching, that’s for sure.

Destined for success

Even if her show wasn’t pulling in as many people before the controversy, Laura Ingraham has always been able to attract a substantial audience.

When her show first debuted back in 2017, a total of 3.3 million people tuned in. It was the best performing cable news show of the day, beating out her competition by almost a million viewers. For all the controversy that it’s generated over the last year, you can’t deny that Ingraham definitely knows how to bring in an audience.

Fighting cancer

Laura considers herself very lucky to be able to have her own show on Fox after tackling cancer back in 2005. The illness came shortly after her engagement to businessman James Reyes, a relationship that didn’t stand the test of time.

They separated just a month after getting engaged, and it was Laura’s illness that was reportedly the cause of their split. Apparently, the diagnosis had caused issues between them that neither could reconcile, so they’d parted ways. At least Laura was still able to fight cancer without him.

Mismatched couple

That’s not the only one of Laura’s relationships not to work out. For a brief time back in the late ‘90s, Ingraham fell in love with someone unexpected – Keith Olbermann.

Their relationship was surprising given Olbermann’s liberal views. Naturally, the two faced issues as a couple, although their political views supposedly had nothing to do with it. It wasn’t specified what the problems were that drove them apart, just that politics weren’t involved. However, in the years since, neither has been afraid to criticize the other’s political views.

Meant to be

Someone who Ingraham is very suited to was Dinesh D’Souza. The two aren’t only on the same side of the political spectrum, but they also share similar views.

At one time, it seemed like the two were meant for each other as they kept reappearing in one another’s lives. They started out going to the same college where they both ended up working on The Dartmouth Review together. Fast forward a few years, and they were both members of the White House, with Ingraham acting as a speechwriter for President Reagan.

Keeping it real

It was at that time that Ingraham discovered that working in professional politics was not for her. She is incredibly passionate about her views, but she was worried about the effect that staying in Washington would have on her.

She didn’t want to “forget what mainstream America is all about,” which is why she now works as a TV and radio host discussing politics, rather than actively being involved in it. It was her experience in the White House that helped her become the woman she is today, though.

Mutual respect

Having worked with D’Souza for so long, it’s unsurprising that he and Ingraham ended up in a relationship together. In fact, the two were even reported to be engaged at one point.

However, once again things weren’t meant to be as the two eventually parted ways. Unlike her relationship with Olbermann, though, this break up didn’t end in bitter resentment. Quite the opposite actually. In 2014, Laura was quoted as saying that D’Souza “has been the quintessential immigrant success story” after coming to the United States as an exchange student.

Polish origins

This isn’t the first time that Ingraham has had ties to immigration. Her grandparents originated from Europe before coming to America, giving Laura maternal ties to Poland and Germany.

Despite some of her views on immigration, she is proud of where she comes from and is often supportive of Polish immigrants in the United States. In 2016, she said on her radio show that she was glad to hear Polish people were getting work in America. That’s not where her connection to immigration stops, though.

Loving mother

She might not be married, but that has never stood in the way of Ingraham’s desire to be a mother. The talk show host is a mom to three kids, none of whom were born in the United States.

She adopted her first child, a young girl from Guatemala, back in 2008. One year later, she adopted a 13-month-old boy from Russia, followed by another in 2011. That’s a lot for a single mother to handle, but Ingraham has taken it all in her stride.

Facing backlash

Having kids who all originated from outside of the United States might be a surprise to readers who have heard about Ingraham’s recent controversy.

In response to the detention facilities being used to keep young illegal immigrants from their parents, Laura said that they were just “summer camps” and defended the family separation policy. With this drama coming just a few months after her last controversy, it prompted people to get advertisers to try and boycott her show once again. It gives Fox News a lot to think about.

Sticking by her side

With all the drama that’s happened since “The Ingraham Angle” started airing, there’s been a lot of questions aimed at Fox about how they’re going to react.

Ingraham is not the first talk show host to make comments that rub viewers up the wrong way, but people don’t always get off easily. In 2017, Bill O’Reilly was forced to leave his position at Fox News after accusations of harassment came to light. Fortunately for Ingraham, the broadcaster has stuck by her side through the worst of it.

Step too far

Laura hasn’t always made it easy for Fox though. On top of the controversy with the detention facilities and her tweets about the Parkland Shooting, Ingraham also caused outrage when she made an unfortunate remark about several NBA stars.

She said that LeBron James and Kevin Durant shouldn’t involve themselves in anything political because it wasn’t their place. She said that people who “get paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball” should just “shut up and dribble,” comments that didn’t go down too well with NBA fans.

Radio royalty

While Ingraham may have put her foot in it a couple of times, who hasn’t? The talk show host wouldn’t still be on the air if she was that problematic.

She certainly wouldn’t have a radio show that’s been going for almost two decades now. “The Laura Ingraham Show” came years before her TV gig, and it’s still one of the biggest around. It streams to more than 225 markets across the U.S, with Ingraham listed as one of the most important talk show hosts in the country.

Make it rain

The stellar performance on her radio show is just one of the reasons why Ingraham is rolling in dough. She has a reported net worth of $45 million thanks to the many projects she has going on, including her various talk shows.

It’s not just on TV and radio that Ingraham is popular, though. She’s written several books during her career, some of which have landed at the top of the New York Times Bestseller List. It’s no wonder she’s got so much money to her name – she’s earned it.

Doppelganger

With so much money, you couldn’t blame people for pretending to be her. Unfortunately for Lauren Ingram, a writer for Australia, that’s the last thing she wants.

Ingram’s views are the complete opposite of Ingraham’s, but people on Twitter keep mistaking the two for each other. The writer has been plagued with comments from people angry with Ingraham’s views, even though she agrees with what they’re saying. Although Ingram’s name isn’t exactly the same as the talk show host’s, people just can’t see the difference.

Positive press

While Ingram may have drawn the short straw, not everyone associated with Laura Ingraham has come off badly. Following the talk show host’s beef with Meghan McCain, the latter actually gained national attention.

It came about after Ingraham criticized Senator John McCain’s daughter on her radio show, making a dig at her weight. Meghan wrote an article in response to the comments, and from there, things blew up. Although Laura hadn’t intended to give the writer any positive press, things didn’t turn out in her favor this time.

Bad blood

Meghan isn’t the only person that Ingraham has feuded with during her career. Someone the talk show host is happy to say she’s not a fan of is fellow political commentator Megyn Kelly.

The two were part of the Fox News lineup until Megyn left for NBC in 2017. Since her departure, Ingraham has retweeted several things criticizing Kelly and accused her of dragging up politics despite supposedly trying to move away from it. It’s safe to assume that Ingraham doesn’t miss Kelly being part of the Fox News team.

Family matters

Laura’s views on LGBT+ rights have always been a bit up and down. Her actions during her younger years were far from supportive, but she changed her tune after her brother came out to her.

Although it took time, she adapted her beliefs to show support for her sibling, because family is more important. She later showed regret for some of the things she’d done when in college, particularly as part of The Dartmouth Review. She didn’t realize just quite the impact that her actions would have on others.

Legal drama

While in college, Ingraham wasn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers. Nothing’s changed really, although it’s been a while now since someone tried to sue her.

Back in ‘83 when working on The Dartmouth Review, she wrote a piece that labeled Bill Cole as a bad teacher, something that the Dartmouth professor didn’t take too kindly to. He stated that it caused him distress mentally, financially and emotionally, and wanted to sue the paper for $2.4 million. The case was dropped due to an inability to dispute Ingraham’s claims.